Jack Bostedt Freezes out Ice Bears for 3-0 Win
SPHL Peoria Rivermen

Jack Bostedt Freezes out Ice Bears for 3-0 Win

Published on March 20, 2026 under SPHL (SPHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


KNOXVILLE, TN - Jack Bostedt came into Friday night's contest tied for the lead in shutouts. After Friday, Bostedt had the sole lead as his 29 saves were enough to blank the Knoxville Ice Bears (25-23-4) and help the Peoria Rivermen (35-16-1) to a 3-0 victory at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Connor Szmul, Cory Dennis, and Mike Moran all scored for the Rivermen.

The Rivermen stand in first place in the SPHL standings and are on the cusp of clinching first place in the league for the second season in a row. The Rivermen will be back in action tomorrow night against Knoxville at 7:30 pm ET.

FIRST PERIOD

Peoria struck first midway through the first period as JM Piotrowski backhanded a bouncing puck from the base of the right-wing circle that bounced off the top-shelf of the net and to the slot. Connor Szmul backhanded the puck into the net, and the IceBears were confused about where it was. Szmul's 8th of the season put the Rivermen up 1-0. Knoxville nearly netted the tying goal while short-handed after a turnover, but Rivermen goaltender Jack Bostedt was able to keep Knoxville off the board.

SECOND PERIOD

The Rivermen added on to their lead after the mid-way point of the second period as Cory Dennis corralled the puck at the top of the right-wing point off of a face-off. Dennis walked into the circle and rifled a hard wrist shot low and just off the ice that sailed into the back of the net past Knoxville goaltender Logan Flodell. Up 2-0, the Rivermen limited the opportunities the Ice Bears had, frustrating one of the top teams in the SPHL in terms of shots-on-goal. Late in the second, Peoria stepped up on a short-handed two-on-one as Kyler Fenton was able to clear his own zone right to Alec Baer just as he made a line-change. Baer moved up on the right side of the ice with Michael Moran on the left side. Baer then dished a pass over to Moran, who walked in and sniped a shot into the top left corner of the net. Moran's short-handed tally marked his first goal as a Rivermen, and it extended Peoria's lead to 3-0.

THIRD PERIOD

There was no scoring in the third period, and a large part of that was due to Bostedt, who stopped all 13 shots the Ice Bears sent on net in the third period. In the end, Bostedt stopped all 29 shots he faced and the last 46 over the last two games. The Rivermen are now just one win away from clinching the William B. Coffey Trophy.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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